You've seen it! Hell, maybe you've ridden itâ€¦ But can you give Rides on it?! I'm looking for athletic / outgoing / acrobatic / creative individuals that get itâ€¦ This is a SERIOUS WORKOUT and your fellow burners are trusting YOU with their well being. AND I want you to do it all in STYLE! I'm looking for acrobatic clownsâ€¦Beefy muscely dudesâ€¦ and just all-around ROCKSTARS to man this piece of steel like it was their own cock!

I could tell you how much fun it is to be an operator, and the joy that it brings to have the privilege to gift something like this to strangersâ€¦ But I'm not going toâ€¦. not yet. I must first put the fear of Mayor Joe into your heart, and screen out you would-be operators that just want to give a few pushes, and then wonder off to the next shiny distraction.

This is a fucking dangerous toy. I have seen A LOT of people get hurt on this thingâ€¦ (The riders usuallyâ€¦ but you look like you might be the one who finally puts some truth to my sign)

Pouring your blood sweat and tears out onto the playa is a privilege that Mayor Joe has given only a handful of people.
RESPECT Mayor Joe. This man brings some serious toys to the game, and he's got no time for retards.

Ohâ€¦ and one more thing.. DAVE.. whoever the fuck you are. Step up! I dare you. We gave up our night of the burn, it was 4 in the morning, we were exhausted. We gave you a rideâ€¦ and you talk shit?!

Anybody else got a problem with the manner in which I spend my time at Burning Man?!?!

****************END OF DISCLAIMER ***************************

Now that that's out of the wayâ€¦ I go by Trick.
I've been giving rides on this thing every year that its been out on the playa, but I think it's time to do more with it.
This is what I hate about the Teeter Totter of Death:

* It's closed most of the timeâ€¦ Despite giving rides for 8 hours a day (most of them were night rides this year) We maybe only got about 700 people on it this yearâ€¦ and my buddy AJA! and I worked our ASSES off to do so.

* Because we were in a constant shuffle of getting the next people ready in line and (not to over-stress thisâ€¦but) WORKING OUR FUCKING ASSES OFF!!... we rarely had the time, (or the breathe) to actually talk and socializeâ€¦. I let waaay too many beautiful people wonder past.

* I'm working My ASS OFF!

Obviously, if we can get enough people to really back this thing up, we should be able to give rides on this thing 24 hours a day, and have the right kind of crew to be able to flirt with the lines, take breaks, AND NOT WORK OUR ASSES OFF! A 3 person crew is ideal for a shift. (1 to push, 1 to work the lines, and (if you're daring..) 1 to act as counterweight.)

I'm setting up a 'Carnie' style booth as the entrance to it for 2009â€¦ so it should establish more of a 'line starts here' kinda' thing. Music would be bad-ass, but I don't got the resources for that yet. There's talk of LEDs, but it's still undetermined how much time, money, and help that I'm going to get with developing a brush circuit and all the other mumbo-jumbo..

We'll discuss costumes/ uniforms, shifts, and times much much laterâ€¦ for now, I just want to know who YOU are and why I should trust YOU with Mayor Joe's Teeter Totter of Death.

Your ride is awesome and thanks for the hard work bringing it to the playa.

I have a question about the DAVE, and what he said and your reply. If I am correct in my understanding of the situation, DAVE took a ride, but complained the the operators were asking for cigarettes, alcohol, etc. You then said that he didn't "get it".

Well, if my understanding of the interaction is correct, I'm wondering just who really doesn't get it. I thought that the principle of burning man was "gifting", which is way different than asking.

Again, if my understanding is correct, isn't 'asking' as wrong as what I read about the gate people 'confiscating' newbie's glow for their own personal use?

Your ride is awesome and thanks for the hard work bringing it to the playa.

I have a question about the DAVE, and what he said and your reply. If I am correct in my understanding of the situation, DAVE took a ride, but complained the the operators were asking for cigarettes, alcohol, etc. You then said that he didn't "get it".

Well, if my understanding of the interaction is correct, I'm wondering just who really doesn't get it. I thought that the principle of burning man was "gifting", which is way different than asking.

Again, if my understanding is correct, isn't 'asking' as wrong as what I read about the gate people 'confiscating' newbie's glow for their own personal use?

Please help me to understand the situation.

JK

So true... so true... I'll rescind my 'don't get it' comment...
and leave it at that. You're right... I just don't get Burning Man..

And I don't really like the use of "alcohol" in the same sentence with the word "operators." Kind of goes against my (admittedly) default-world expectations of not getting on anything run by a carnie with bloodshot eyes.

Of course that probably applies to a lot of rides/cars at BM...When I get there, I guess I'll go by my gut instincts.

I have a question about the DAVE, and what he said and your reply. If I am correct in my understanding of the situation,....

Well, if my understanding of the interaction is correct, I'm wondering just who really doesn't get it.......

Again, if my understanding is correct, .....

Please help me to understand the situation.

JK

So I just couldn't resist... hmmmm.. um, no.. your 'understanding of the situation/ interaction' isn't correct.

If you haven't woken up in the morning so sore that you can't move, or if you haven't bled through your socks (only to patch the numerous holes worn into your feet from the abrasive alkali just so that you can run around for another 8 hours)... then I don't know how I could argue with you about the finer points of gifting, my friend... I can see from your historical comments, (and boy! If I understand the situation, you like to smear your contradictory shit everywhere!) that you like to make the point for the 'other-side'.. We all need a devil's advocate, so I'll not assume that my arguments could sway your opinion. But for the other readers out there (oh, and hopefully Dave!) let's try!

We gave everything.. We poured our bodies out, we had nothing left..

Did we ask for beer? You bet! Did we gift EVERYONE with a ride that wanted one... Regardless of gift? You bet! Some people didn't understand that we had been out there already for hours, that our bodies were pushed beyond the limits, and that we needed something to drink DESPERATELY or we'd have to close it down to take care of ourselves...

Dave was an ignorant and thankless prick that I take personal offense to (given the circumstances that he would post pictures of us on his website and make the comment 'We didn't get Burning Man.')

Yes. I get Burning Man, and I suppose that I am hyper-senitive to those that would question my love and sacrifice for my fellow burners.. I hope this explains the situation.

Now does anybody actually have the balls to give the gift of a Teeter Totter of Death ride? Or is this post just going to be me arguing with this guy?

I have a question about the DAVE, and what he said and your reply. If I am correct in my understanding of the situation,....

Well, if my understanding of the interaction is correct, I'm wondering just who really doesn't get it.......

Again, if my understanding is correct, .....

Please help me to understand the situation.

JK

So I just couldn't resist... hmmmm.. um, no.. your 'understanding of the situation/ interaction' isn't correct.

If you haven't woken up in the morning so sore that you can't move, or if you haven't bled through your socks (only to patch the numerous holes worn into your feet from the abrasive alkali just so that you can run around for another 8 hours)... then I don't know how I could argue with you about the finer points of gifting, my friend... I can see from your historical comments, (and boy! If I understand the situation, you like to smear your contradictory shit everywhere!) that you like to make the point for the 'other-side'.. We all need a devil's advocate, so I'll not assume that my arguments could sway your opinion. But for the other readers out there (oh, and hopefully Dave!) let's try!

We gave everything.. We poured our bodies out, we had nothing left..

Did we ask for beer? You bet! Did we gift EVERYONE with a ride that wanted one... Regardless of gift? You bet! Some people didn't understand that we had been out there already for hours, that our bodies were pushed beyond the limits, and that we needed something to drink DESPERATELY or we'd have to close it down to take care of ourselves...

Dave was an ignorant and thankless prick that I take personal offense to (given the circumstances that he would post pictures of us on his website and make the comment 'We didn't get Burning Man.')

Yes. I get Burning Man, and I suppose that I am hyper-senitive to those that would question my love and sacrifice for my fellow burners.. I hope this explains the situation.

Now does anybody actually have the balls to give the gift of a Teeter Totter of Death ride? Or is this post just going to be me arguing with this guy?

Yes, thank you. It explains it exactly; and now that I have a clear understanding of the entire situation, I see I shouldn't have questioned your motivation.

And thanks for all your effort in bringing the Teeter Totter of Death to the Playa. I'm sure your hard work will be even more appreciated after people read your reply. My appologies for questioning your motives.

If I didn't have RSD and could handle the labor I would be honored to work the thing for a couple shifts. Stick around and I'm sure you will find some support and positive posts. Alot of eplayans only stop by once a week or once a month. Tribe and Snark seems to keep alot of folk away from here.

Perhaps you should have a theme camp and use any extra proceeds to help support your project (if you don't already do this).

As an alternative, maybe you could think about a fundraiser as many people have.

It seems clear that it's difficult to get enough folks without over-stressing them physically. And by your own admission, it's a dangerous toy and you've seen a lot of people get hurt. I think there's a logical conclusion to be reached here . . .

I'm just saying that perhaps shorter shifts are in order and that you should have a budget to feed them ($1,000?) if you have had enough money to build this and transport it to the playa.

Now, I know I am not made of money, and I realize that this is likely why you have appealed here for volunteers. I hope you get more volunteers if you're going to continue. But I really can't visualize that burners are walking around the playa with picnic baskets of extra food and beer, so "asking" them to gift this would be cumbersome at best. And I do realize that you feel stressed and that it's a thankless task, and others have said so about their contributions to BM, but I think it their efforts toward wowing people need to be rethought from time to time against the whole concept.

Dance Dance Immolation in 2006/2007 had over thirty people. Basically, each night took about 10 people to operate, each person worked two nights.

You need three people per shift, but run multiple shifts per day (DDI had one four hour shift). If you ran four shifts per day (16 hours), three people per shift, for six days, you have 72 shifts; if people work two shifts during the week, you need 36 people.

You could, of course, have people work 3 shifts not two, etc. But 36 isn't a huge sized camp. Start recruiting now. What kind of infrastructure the camp provides to the campers is completely up to you; camp organization is a completely different subject.

I'll have to vote with Martini Steve...you need a theme camp!
There is a catch 22 to bring out a huge gift to the playa people.
People to run said gift!
You guys were right around the corner from us(BoobyBar). When I was able to get away from camp, Your Tetter totter of DEATH looked like it was having a blast. But here in lies my veiw...I was running out real quik to see some burn.
Running a theme camp and in turn the gift the camp gives to the playa people....Takes alot of peeps! I think we were 35? last yr and will probly be closer to 40-45 this year.
You need just enough people in camp so everyone can "work" and have time to "Play".
Its a nice balance. And if your doing it right....the Work seems like Play!!!!

Yup...coming right out and saying I need volunteers...might not work in BM society. People get sidetracked by the pretty lights and forget what they said they would volunteer for.

Your better off doing the "theme Camp" so peeps actually have a day where they know they need to run the totter from say 10am to 2pm...then again on another day a flip shift.
Then they have 5-7 days where they can GO OUT....and experience their burn. Same goes with you....being mayor of said camp...you need to get your burn on as well! so you take 2-3 shifts....that leaves all kinds of time to GO BURN!

The Booby Bar has a saying...if no one wants to bartend...then we hang a sign up that says "back at ISH'O'Clock"!.
So far it has never happened....but just so everyone knows that its VERY important to go OUT!

Thank you for your good input. I don't know how the heck I'm going to be able to put together a theme camp, but it's worth a shot!

I also wanted to post this for jkisha..

jkisha-
I've been feeling bad for writing in the heat of the moment... I just wanted to apologize for my harsh words towards your input and commitment to the burning man discussion boards... Your quick response and contradiction to my post felt like a virtual de-pancing. I got a little heated...

I thought about this a lot this weekend. Thank you for responding... thank you for your thoughts. I'm not much of a poster... or blogger (whatever you wanna' call it) but I feel like this post is leading me in the right direction.

I have given much thought to your words, and I've had to ask why I would be so offended by it... I think that it's because there is truth in your words... i shouldn't have to assume that casual observers would feel my pain, (nor should I care..) It's the point of selfless giving, and I did pervert the ideology of the Burn for my own 'sustainment' by asking for anything.

I've got my work cut out for me in the months to come, I guess I've got to make a theme camp!

But more importantly, I've made a new resolve for the manner in which i perform TTOD rides for next year... Pure gifting... No bitching.. just fun.
Thanks for the reality check. My 6th year should be the best ever!
-Regards-